Screen-door.



R. J. SINNOTT.

SCREEN DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED 050. 4. I914.

1,210,553, v Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

II III FFIQE.

SCREEN-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed December 4, 1914. Serial No. 875,411.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT J. SINNOTT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ottawa, in the county of La Salle and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Screen-Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention is concerned with screen doors for keeping flies out of houses, and is designed to improve the same so as to minimize their possible entry into homes where there are small children.

I have found by observation that flies congregate on and around the top of screen doors, especially those used in kitchens, probably being attracted by the odors of cooking escaping near the top. If the ordinary door is opened by a grown-up person a few flies are apt to get in at the top, but if a small child opens it practically all that are at the top will get in, as the child is so far away from the top as not to hinder or scare the flies. To remedy this difliculty so far as possible, I have made my present invention which consists:

First. In constructing a two-part screen door, with the horizontal dividing line substantially across the center and providing the meeting edges of the two parts with a rabbet so that when an adult opens the upper half the lower half goes with it, but when a child opens the lower half the upper half stays closed preventing the flies at the top from getting in. As small children at play are apt to run in and out much more than adults, this makes a very material difference in the number of flies admitted.

Second. In supplying the two-part screen door described in the preceding paragraph with an automatic latch between the two parts that will lock them together to form what is, in effect, a single door as soon as the upper part moves from its closed position, and which will automatically unlock them as soon as it is closed, so as to leave the lower part free to be opened by a child.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto a sheet of drawings, in which the same reference characters are used to designate identical parts in all the figures, of which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a door equipped with my invention, with the lower portion opened. Fig. 2 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale, showing the latch. Fig. 3 is a detail in section on the line .AA

of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail in section onthe line BB of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail.

In carrying out my invention, a door casing 10 of the customary form is employed, and in the upper portion I mount by the hinges 11 the upper half 12 of the screen door, while directly beneath it I mount by similar hinges the lower half 13. These hinges are preferably provided with springs to close the door sections automatically, although it will be understood that separate springs might be employed, if desired. The inner edge of the upper section 12 is provided with the rabbet flange 1 1 which cooperates with the similar flange 15 formed on the outer edge of the lower door-section so that a small child may push or pull the lower section open, as shown in Fig. 1 without disturbing the upper section, but when an adult pushes or pulls the upper section open, the lower section must accompany it.

While the construction thus far described serves to carry out the broad principle of my invention, I preferably employ in connection therewith the automatic latching mechanism shown, which may consist of a latch-bar 16 which is loosely pivoted to the upper section, as by the screw 17 and which is preferably guided by the strap 18. When the door is closed the outer end of this latch-bar rests on the horizontal surface 19 of the cam-plate 20 which is suitably secured on the adjacent edge of the door casing 10. Secured to the upper edge of the outer corner of the doorsection 13 is the catch-plate 21 which is preferably set flush with the outer edge of the door-section, and the upper end of which preferably enters the recess 22 cut in the edge of the outer lower corner of the upper door-section. This catch-plate has a notch 23 therein which is ordinarily directly beneath the outer end of the latch-bar 16 which is prevented from falling into the recess by the presence of the cam-plate 20.

With the construction shown, if the lower section is opened, the latch remains inactive and the upper door-section remains closed. If the upper door-section is opened, as soon as the latch-bar 16 rides off of the horizontal surface 19 of the cam-plate and down over the cam-surface 2 1 on said plate, it drops into engagement with the catch-plate 21, entering the notch 23 and locking the two sections together until the door is closed, at which time the latch-bar .16 ri g up on the While I have shown and described my ino vention as embodied in the form which'I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, it will be understood'that it is capable of some modifications and that Ido not desireto be limited in the interpretation of the following claims except as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to cover by Letters Patent of the United States is: V 1. The combination with a door-casing,'of a door-section hinged in the upper part of the casing, a second section hinged in the lower part of the casing, and latching mechanism interposed between the two sections and the casing sothat as soon as the two sections together move 'from' their closed position in which they are unlocked they will be locked together and remain locked until they return to their closed position.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for'five cents each, by addressing the I Washington, D. 0. p

the notch 23, leaving the lower section the top of the. lower 2. The/combination with a door-casing, of a door-section hinged in the upper part of the casing, a second section hinged inthe lower part of the casing, the upper section having, a portion thereof section with which it cooperates so that both will open when the upper section is opened, leaving the 1 lower section free to be opened separately, and

projecting below latching mechanism interposed betwe'en'the two sections and the casing so that as soon as they move together from their closed position they will be locked together and so remain locked together until they return to their closed position when they are automatically'unlocked.

In' witness whereof, I have hereunto set my handand aflixed my sealythis 28th day of November A. D. 1914. T

ROBERT J SINNOTT. [L.' s] Vitnesses:

JOHN SINNOTT, FRANK SINNOTT.

Commissioner of Patents; 

